In a 2023 referendum, the people of Ecuador voted 59% to 41% to stop exploiting oil in the Yasuní region, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, with more tree species in one single hectare than in all of the landmass of Canada and the US combined. It was a massive break with the global status quo, in a year when fossil fuel use around the world reached record highs and profits soared.

However, the referendum was not an overnight success. It built on years of struggle, including the failed Yasuní-ITT initiative undertaken by then-president Rafael Correa in 2007, which asked foreign governments to pay Ecuador not to exploit the oil in this region. 

So how did it happen, and what lessons can the rest of the world learn from Ecuador? Here to answer these questions, and many more, is Andrés Arauz, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research and, formerly, a politician in the Ecuadorian government.

In this special episode, Adrienne speaks to Andrés about Ecuador’s pursuit of climate and environmental justice, as well as the barriers facing lower income countries in the context of a highly unequal global economic system. From the International Monetary Fund to the rules of international trade, Andrés unpacks the ways that injustice is built into global capitalism, and lays out a blueprint for a radical alternative.

Andrés Arauz is an economist and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Research and Policy in DC. He has an extensive and diverse background in economic policy, research, organising, and politics, serving in several positions in the Ecuadorian government and running as Vice President in the 2023 Ecuadorian elections.